File Menu

The File menu contains many of the items dealing with project management. It provides features to create, read, write, and print project files, as well as features for sharing data with databases and GIS systems.

New—Create a new project. When you choose this item, a dialog box will appear so that you can enter a drive, directory, and filename for your new project file. The Project Setup Wizard will then help you set up your new project (for more information, see “Project Setup Wizard” on page 4-241).

Shortcut Key: Ctrl + N

Open—Load an existing project file from disk. When you select this item, a dialog box will appear so that you can choose the name and location of the project you want to open.

Shortcut Key: Ctrl + O

Save—Save the current project file to disk. While saving the project file, the status pane will briefly display a message to show you the progress of the save command.

Shortcut Key: Ctrl + S

Save As—Save the current project to disk under a different filename. When you use this command, a dialog box will appear prompting you to enter the drive, directory, and a new file name for your project.

Project Summary—Access the Project Summary information, such as the project title and the project engineer (for more information, see “Project Summary” on page 4-242).

Import > Shapefile—Build network elements from ESRI shapefiles. This command will start the Shapefile Wizard, which will help you bring the GIS elements and their associated data into your project (for more information, see “Import Shapefile Wizard” on page 15-589).

Note: A similar command called “Change Entities to Pipes” is available in the AutoCAD version under the Edit menu.

Import > Polyline-to-Pipe—Build network elements from a .DXF file. This

command will start the Polyline-to-Pipe Wizard, which will help you convert polyline data representing geographical data into your project as pipes and nodes (for more information, see “Polyline to Pipe Wizard” on page 16-600).

Note: WaterCAD v3 and v4 projects should simply be opened in WaterCAD v5 (as any WaterCAD v5 project), without using the Import command. However, once you save the project in

WaterCAD v5, the project files cannot be opened in WaterCAD v3 or v4 any longer.

Import > Network—Import data from KYPIPE v1 (see “Importing KYPIPE Data”

on page A-681), v2 or v3, EPANET 1.0 and 2.0 (see “Importing EPANET Files” on page A-681), or Cybernet^® (see “Importing Data from Previous WaterCAD/Cybernet Versions” on page A-674) files.

Import > Spot Elevations—Bring spot elevation data from a space or comma delim-ited ASCII file in a variety of formats.

Note: Coordinate data is included in the .WSM file so elements in the imported submodel may overlap elements in the current drawing. Imported elements will not overwrite the existing elements, and may be moved to the desired location.

Import > Submodels—Combine current network with a previously exported WaterCAD submodel. For information, see “Importing a Submodel” on page 4-240 and “Exporting a Submodel” on page 4-241.

Import > GEMS Project—Imports a GEMS .MDB file.

Import > Background Layer—Bring a .DXF drawing file or a shapefile into your project as a background map. This command will open a dialog box that prompts you to select the name and location of the desired .DXF or shapefile.

Import > WaterCAD—(AutoCAD mode only) Import a Stand-Alone WaterCAD file (*.WCD) into WaterCAD in AutoCAD mode (for more information, see “Import WaterCAD” on page 17-619).

Note: WaterCAD has the ability to import demands and patterns from text files. This option is not available from the File Menu along with the other import options, but can be found in the Demand Alternative Editor and the Pattern Manager, respectively. For more information, see “Importing Patterns” on page 9-396 and

“Importing Demands” on page 6-301.

Export > Shapefile—Export your project to ESRI shapefile format for access in GIS applications. This command will start the Shapefile Wizard, which will help you create shapefiles with the desired project elements and associated data.

Export > Submodels—Exports currently selected network elements to .WSM format for importing into other WaterCAD projects.

Export > .DXF File—Export the entire network drawing to a .DXF format, which can be read by all popular CAD programs. This command will open a dialog box

prompting you to enter the name and location for the .DXF file you would like to create.

Synchronize > Database Connections—Access the Database Connection Manager (see “Database Connection Manager” on page 15-574), which allows you to share WaterCAD data with external databases, spreadsheets, and other ODBC compliant sources. For more information, see “Shapefile and Database Connections” on page 15-571.

Synchronize > Shapefile Connections—Access the Shapefile Connection Manager (see “Shapefile Connection Manager” on page 15-586), which allows you to share WaterCAD data with external GIS systems. For more information, see “Shapefile and Database Connections” on page 15-571.

Synchronize GEMS Project—Brings into agreement the GEMS .MDB and the WaterCAD .WCD.

Print—Print the current view of the project drawing to a printer. Profiles and tabular reports are printed from their respective windows. The print command invokes the standard Print dialog box, which allows you to select the printer and set up properties to be used.

Shortcut Key: Ctrl + P

Print Preview—Open the Print Preview dialog box for the current view of the project drawing. This feature allows you to see the drawing as it will be printed before sending it to the printer.

Print Setup—Select the default printer for WaterCAD to use. You can also use this to change options related to the printer driver, such as portrait or landscape orientation and other printer details.

Exit—Close the current project and exit WaterCAD. If you made any changes to the current project, you will be prompted to save the project before you exit WaterCAD.

Shortcut Key: Alt + F4

1, 2, etc.—The most recently opened project files appear at the bottom of the File menu. Using this file list, you can quickly select and open a recently used file without locating its drive and directory.